344 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1918 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



productive colonies to breed from for both 

 drones and queens. Not only that, but it 

 is even more important, if we would secure 

 the best results, that the ancestors of our 

 breeding queens should have been from 

 extra-producing colonies also, and that, for 

 many generations. Not only the queens, but 

 the drones, if possible, should likewise come 

 from such stock. Our chances of success 

 are much greater by the use of queens with 

 a pedigree than with a chance-queen of even 

 unusual excellence. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



IMBEDDING WIRES 



How Electricity Gan be Effectively and Inexpen- 

 sively Used 



After all is said and done, the most satis- 

 factory method of imbedding wires in comb 

 foundation is by means of electricity; and 

 if one has access to an electric-light circuit, 

 as so many beekeepers now have, the best 

 way is to imbed all four wires at once by 

 attaching the current to the tacks on the 

 outside of one of the end-bars of the frames, 

 around which the ends of the wires are wrap- 

 ped, the current then flowing thru all the 

 wires. Dry batteries might be used for 

 this purpose, but it would take eight to a 

 dozen batteries to heat all four wires quick- 

 ly, and even then it would be a rather hard 

 strain on the batteries. Even for heating 

 one wire at a time it takes four cells, and 

 fresh cells at that. The trouble with dry 

 batteries for imbedding is that they must 

 be fresh to be efficient, and after a little of 

 this kind of work they are no longer fresh. 



Obviously with the straight electric-light 

 current, if that were attempted, the wires 

 would be heated redhot in an instant, or, 

 what is more likely, a fuse somewhere on the 

 circuit would be blown out. The current 

 must first be run thru a "resistance" to re- 

 duce it, just as steam when run thru a 

 steam engine is exhausted, and of much 

 lower pressure thereafter. If one has an 

 electric flatiron to put on the circuit, that 

 furnishes about the right amount of re- 

 sistance. In that event the two wires that 

 go to the switch which turns the flatiron on 

 and off, have just about the right amount of 

 current to do the imbedding nicely. If 

 there is no switch, the flatiron may be 

 hooked in on one of the wires, the current 

 going first thru the flatiron before it goes 

 thru the wires in the frames. 



With no electrically heated flatiron avail- 

 able, a resistance coil can be made in a few 

 minutes' time. First, get about 400 feet of 

 No. 24 iron wire. The exact amount can not 

 be given, for the wire varies slightly in 

 size; furthermore, different operators may 

 prefer different currents to work with. The 

 best plan is to get 400 feet of the wire and 



then not use quite all of it, if more heat is 

 desired. In order to have the wire in con- 

 venient form to handle, wind it on a long 

 iron rod, or pipe, the outside diameter of 

 which is not over % of an inch. Twist the 

 wire around one end of the pipe tightly, so 

 it V ill jiot slip; then have some one else 

 turn the pipe slowly, while you wind it on 

 evenly and tightly, with no space between 

 the coils. When it is all wound on, let the 

 wire loosen up, cut the end that was first 

 twisted on and slide the whole thing off the 

 pipe. Hang the coils on nails in the wall or 

 ceiling, being careful that the different 

 lengths of the wire do not touch each other. 

 The electricity after passing thru all these 

 coils of wire will be "tame" enough to 

 handle oy any one. These directions are for 

 the standard voltage, 110, found almost uni- 

 versally. It makes no difference whether it 

 is direct current or alternating — one works 

 as well as the other. 



To do the imbedding, take a board wider 

 than the frame and near one end screw two 



( fl£CTRrC i/CHT^ 

 CIRCUIT 



TO MAKE CONTACT 



01^ rnc frtos of the 

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Electrical Imbedding Dfivice. 



pieces of sheet brass, which will stick up 

 about an inch. These are to be spaced the 

 right distance apart, so that if the end-bar 

 of the frame is pushed up against the piece 

 of brass, one tack, around which the end of 

 the wire is wrapped, will touch one brass 

 spring and the other tack the other. For 

 best results there should be a switch for 

 turning the current on and off. 



The sheet of foundation should be on top 

 of the wires, instead of the wires on top of 

 the foundation. As soon as the current is 

 turned on with the left hand, a light wooden 

 roller, that will just fit inside the frame, 

 should be rapidly rolled across the wax, 

 pressing it down over the heated wires. If 

 one desires to deflect the upper two wires out 

 of line, that is, bend them down slightly, 

 two headless nails can be driven into the 

 board at the right point, and the upper two 

 wires drawn down around them before the 

 current is turned on, or before the sheet of 



